A personal, guided tour to the best scoops and stories every day in The Wall Street Journal, from Editor in Chief Gerard Baker.

The protagonists in the Syrian civil war—and their proxies—have opened peace talks in Switzerland with, predictably, fighting words, raising questions about whether any progress can be made. Secretary of State John Kerry opened the conference by insisting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go. "There is no way…that the man who led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern," he said. His Syrian counterpart balked, charging the U.S. and allies...